Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) has achieved another world record by awarding the 700MW AED14.2 billion-fourth phase of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park. This is the largest single-site Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) project in the world, based on the Independent Power Producer (IPP) model. The contract is awarded to a consortium comprising Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power and China’s Shanghai Electric.

The consortium bid the lowest Levelised Cost of Electricity (LCOE) of USD 7.3 cents per kilowatt hour (kW/h). The project will have the world’s tallest solar tower, measuring 260 metres. The power purchase agreement and the financial close are due to be finished shortly. The project will be commissioned in stages, starting from Q4 of 2020.

“Awarding this strategic project supports the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to promote sustainability, and make Dubai a global centre for clean energy and a green economy. This vision is supported by the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050 to increase the share of clean energy in Dubai’s total power output to 7% by 2020, 25% by 2030, and 75% by 2050.

“Our focus on renewable energy generation has led to a drop in prices worldwide and has lowered the price of solar power bids in Europe and the Middle East. This was evident today when we received the lowest CSP project cost in the world,” said HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of DEWA.

The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park is the largest single-site solar park in the world, based on the IPP model. It will generate 1,000MW by 2020 and 5,000MW by 2030. The 13MW photovoltaic first phase became operational in 2013. The 200MW photovoltaic second phase of the solar park was launched in March 2017. The 800MW photovoltaic third phase will be operational by 2020, and the first stage of the 700MW CSP fourth phase will be commissioned in Q4 of 2020.

World clean energy investment totalled $333.5 billion last year, up 3% from 2016 and the second highest annual figure ever, taking cumulative investment since 2010 to $2.5 trillion. An extraordinary boom in photovoltaic installations made 2017 a record year for China’s investment in clean energy. This outpaced changes elsewhere, including jumps in investment in Australia and Mexico, and declines in Japan, the U.K. and Germany. The figures up 3% from a revised $324.6 billion in 2016, and only 7% short of the record figure of $360.3 billion, in 2015.

ICONIQ Motors, a China-based EV company, has reached agreement to test its autonomous driving concept at Masdar City. The ICONIQ SEVEN, one of the world’s latest EV models is a futuristic vehicle, built on an intelligent, connected vehicle platform integrated with Microsoft’s AZURE cloud technology; and is set to hit the market in 2019. “Masdar City has put smart and sustainable mobility at the centre of its strategy, as highlighted by the historic success of its flagship driverless Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) system,” said Yousef Baselaib, Executive Director of Sustainable Real Estate at Madsar. “It is the ideal location to test innovative autonomous driving concepts.”

Vestas has received a firm and unconditional order for 190 MW of 4 MW platform turbines in the U.S. taking the global order intake for the company in 2017 to 10.6 GW, surpassing 2016’s record order intake of 10.5 GW. The surge of orders at the end of the year has resulted in the company revising its guidance for free cashflow upwards. It now expects the free cashflow for 2017 to be €1.15bn-€1.25bn, as compared with the previous guidance of €450m-€900m. Markets have reacted favourably with the company share price experiencing an increase of 5%.

India is accelerating development of renewable energy projects to provide cheap, reliable and clean power to its 1.3 billion people. The country’s per-capita on-grid electricity consumption has increased significantly over the four years; due to increased industrial activity, higher uptake of electrical appliances by residential electricity users and the addition of new consumers to the grid. During this period, the cost of electricity from rooftop PV has halved, due to fierce competition in the market and a drop in equipment prices. In contrast, average retail electricity rates have increased by 22% in the same period. This has made rooftop PV cheaper than commercial and industrial grid tariffs in all major states in India.